Department of Physics
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Plasma Physics (Physics/ECE/NE 922) Seminars
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Rossby Waves - The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
Date: Monday, February 23rd
Time: 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Place: 1610 Engineering Hall
Speaker: Prof. Matthew Hitchman, , Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, UW-Madison
Abstract: The mathematical and physical basis for Rossby waves in neutral fluids is described. Conservation of potential vorticity creates an elastic restoring mechanism for an upstream-propagating transverse wave on a rotating sphere. This Beta effect is due to the meridional gradient of planetary vorticity. Manifestations include "Alberta Clippers" and the "Polar Vortex of 2013-14". Violations of the non-acceleration theorem during Rossby wave breaking (RWB) couple the Rossby wave activity conservation relation to the mean flow equations. Consideration of 3D RWB provides insight into stratosphere - troposphere
exchange and the distribution of tropopause folds.
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